COACHES AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION (PE) TEACHERS have been urged once more to play fair.
More than 20 school teachers and coaches were trained again in various components of anti-doping over the last two days after UNESCO hosted another workshop at the Barbados Olympic Association’s (BOA) headquarters to deal with doping at the secondary school level.
Titled Levelling The Playing Field In Our Secondary Schools, the workshop was just the latest project arranged by UNESCO through its Fund for the Elimination of Doping in Sport.
According to executive director of the Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organization (RADO), Tessa Chaderton-Shaw, the initiative looked to fill a void where there was limited anti-doping education provided to secondary school students, who have the potential to be outstanding athletes, model citizens and athlete ambassadors for Barbados.
She further explained that the project also aimed to build the knowledge base of key teaching staff to debunk the prevailing myths and misconceptions about doping.
Put on in collaboration with the BOA, the National Sports Council and the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology & Innovation, the workshop featured a series of educational presentations, including two sessions from local anti-doping expert Dr Adrian Lorde.
Neil Murrell, deputy director of the National Sports Council, also had a feature presentation titled Defining Doping In Sports, before Dr June Caddle and Elspeth Kirton gave light on the doping control process.
“The project introduces the concept of fair play at an earlier age and aims to build capacity among PE teachers and coaches so that they can use age-appropriate teaching tools in the classroom and on the playing field,” Lorde said while highlighting the importance of the workshop.
“The overarching goal is to produce clean athletes in Barbados”. (JM)
